It's now been over one hundred days since the BBC reporter Alan Johnston was kidnapped in Gaza. His kidnappers, The Army of Islam, were once close to Hamas, but have been told by them that they must let Johnston go or face the consequences. Apparently, the Army of Islam terrorists are afraid they will be hurt by Hamas (now that Hamas controls Gaza), even though the Army want what Hamas does: release of Hamas fighters being held by Israel, and equal time and reporting "weight" given in the Western media to Palestinian fighters being held by Israel as given to kidnapped Western journalists. Meanwhile, Israel and the U.S. are releasing funds to Mahmoud Abbas' newly reconstituted government in the West Bank, apparently comforted by Abbas' denunciation of Hamas as "terrorists."

So, let's get this clear. One terrorist organization (Army of Islam) is frightened of being harmed by an organization with links to terrorism and suicide bombers (Hamas), which has just ousted from Gaza a corrupt, discredited regime (Fatah), also with links to terrorism and suicide bombers. Hamas, which was democratically elected by the Palestinian people, (democracy being a stated goal of U.S. policy in the Middle East) is a rogue entity because it does not recognize the State of Israel, while Fatah is being armed and funded by Israel and the U.S. despite being so corrupt and bankrupt (as well as failing to stop suicide bombers and terrorism) that it made inevitable the rise of the less corruptible Hamas.

Finally, the Army of Islam thinks that it can stop Western journalists valuing the lives of Western journalists more than the Palestinians by not only kidnapping a Western journalist, but doing it to one of the few journalists who lived among the Palestinians and had given them a fair hearing around the world. And Alan Johnston's best hope? Hamas: one of the groups that has fostered kidnappings. You just have to shake your head and hope the grown-ups are on their way to knock these kids' heads together.